Then the difficult part began. What had happened after Reno left with Jenova?
Tseng's expression had become stony, cold. His voice was very controlled, over-controlled, toneless, emotionless. The signs of trauma were there, the unwillingness to talk, the tight lines of remembered pain around his eyes. He was hiding it well- Elena could see it, but the partnership of a Turk was very close, often as close as a marriage or closer. If she could see it, Rufus could as well.
Tseng fell silent for a moment, shifting his weight back off his left side, as the memory of something Kadaj had done ached. "I... passed out after that, sir." Tseng's voice was tight with anger and hate now, anger at himself, anger at the clones of Sephiroth, and probably at Sephiroth as well. Hate for his own weakness, for succumbing to the pain and blood loss and leaving his helpless partner to the clutches of Kadaj and his "brothers".
Rufus was silent for a moment, hands laced together, eyes on the desk. He then looked up at Tseng, nodding quietly. "You did well. Thank you, Tseng." His eyes slid to Elena. "After that?"
Elena's spine stiffened and she attempted to delve into the pain-filled memories that she wanted so badly to suppress and ignore. "More of the same, sir." She kept her voice calm and neutral. She was no longer a rookie. It was time to prove it. "Always asking where 'Mother' was. Most of what they did to me, Tseng as already told you." Mentally, she blessed him, thanking him for going over most of what had happened to her. She did feel guilty; Kadaj had delighted in having Loz and Yazoo- if those were really their names- torment her, and forcing Tseng to watch.
"Nothing else, after Tseng fell unconscious." Rufus stated. "No hint that they knew."
"No, sir." Elena said, swallowing. "I... I don't remember much, but I do remember that I never, ever told them anything. Like Tseng." She glanced at him, and was surprised to see his emotionless mask gone, and a grimace of distaste on his face. Something I said? Did? The expression on his face was gone in a second, the moment he realized she was looking at him. It was quickly replaced by a calm, almost encouraging smile. She tried to smile back, and was certain that it didn't last, if it reached her face at all.
"Good." Rufus sat back, frowning, expression distant for a moment. Elena wondered what he was thinking. Was he going to reprimand them? They'd done their duty! Finally, he looked up, calmly, and nodded. "Very good. Thank you, both of you. I've no doubt you both saved thousands of lives or more, mine included." He looked at his desk, then back at Tseng only, and he suddenly looked much younger. "I was... very upset, when they said you were dead."
"We're Turks, sir." Tseng said levelly. "You have no reason to feel sorrow, no matter what happened or happens to us." Elena forced herself to nod in agreement with him.
That earned a small, quiet smile, something that made Elena feel extremely proud of herself, despite the mental and physical pain, exhaustion, and residual weakness. "Excellent. Dismissed, both of you."
"I protest, sir. Reno and Rude are not here." Elena dared to speak up, looking at him.
Rufus scowled now, shaking his head. "Reno's fault, I've no doubt. Still drunk- hungover at the very least."
"We'll stay, sir. We've had plenty of rest for the past week." Tseng took his customary position behind Rufus' left shoulder. "Short of a massive uprising, we can handle anything."
Rufus sighed, and shook his head, but didn't argue. He knew, as well as the other two did, that he needed them- not as badly as he did when the geostigma wracked his body with uncontrollable tremors and unbelievable pain- but they were good, effective bodyguards, and he needed them. "Very well."
Elena saluted. "I'll go patrol, sir." Both Tseng and Rufus nodded, nearly identical nods, and she suppressed laughter at how similar to two were. It would've broken into hysterics anyway, and that was unacceptable.
Some things deserved to be buried in memory, and surface only in barely-remembered nightmares. Some things were better off untouched.
She remembered Tseng's expression once, when Yazoo was... taking his turn at attempting to make her talk. She remembered trying not to scream, remembered looking at Tseng, remembered what he looked like. His face was horribly bruised, cut, a mess of half-congealed blood and the tangled mats of his long black hair. But she knew, she had seen that his expression had been one of incoherent rage.
She leaned against the wall in an empty corridor for a moment, eyes closed. She seemed destined to relive the moments in the North Crater anyway; Rufus' questioning had once again stirred things in her memory she'd thought were gone. She'd wished they were gone.
"Where is Mother?"
Whatever Kadaj and Yazoo was doing hurt, Gods, it hurt. She didn't want to open her eyes and see, because she thought she would pass out. Passing out would be a mercy, but that would mean they would hurt Tseng even more.
She would be strong for Tseng. She forced her eyes open to stare over at him. Something snapped in her shoulder, and she gave an odd, choking noise, and she saw Tseng's jaw clench.
He was angry. She could tell. Angry for her?
"Where is Mother!"
"I don't know." Elena found herself whispering, then shook herself out of the memory.
Had she even said that much? Had she said anything to them? She didn't remember. She was almost certain she hadn't, as she told Rufus. But after Tseng was unconscious, it was all like a bad dream, a blur, something she couldn't fully wrap her mind around.
She shivered- Tseng had been her reason for remaining strong. She wanted to make him proud. She only hoped she had.
He was such an enigma, so foreign, so... exotic. Sexy. Oh, hell.
That was the other problem. Her mind was so willing to take what had happened between them and romanticize it in some way. She wanted to take the memories and color them in some way, make it less... painful to have them.
She wanted to wake up one day, and remember that Tseng had done something amazing, like... declaring his love for her to Kadaj, or when they woke in the woods, that he held her close, comforting her with gentle, soft words...
Or that they had wild, insane sex the minute they could. Mm, that memory would be especially nice. She closed her eyes, imagining that for just a moment. It was unprofessional, it was childish, and she did not give a damn. She needed something to distract her from her memories, and if it took a stupid, useless fantasy of her crush- ex-crush!- seducing her, she would accept that.
She knew exactly how it would work, too. She read romance novels. She was only a woman, after all, women needed release too. And smutty, dime-store novels were a nice distraction for someone with a lot of tension.
Yes, it'd be wonderful and perfect, and all "Oh, Tseng!" "Oh, Elena!" "Oh, Tseng!" "Oh, Elena!" Who the hell am I kidding? It'd never be that way. It'll never happen period. I should stop this idiotic behavior, and focus on what really matters, like my job.
Her job was what mattered. Even if her job was cold and lonely, she at least had friends. Reno and Rude were amusing, and they were good friends, she thought. They'd probably give her a hand if she needed it.
She felt cold now. She doubted she'd feel warm again for some time. Tonight, I'll take a hot bath. That will warm me up nicely, and it'll relax me too. ...I hope.
Noises from down the hall made her straighten and peel herself off the wall. There was quite a bit of shouting, which immediately set her on edge. She reached for her gun, stiffening and setting her back against the wall. The moment the target rounded the corner, she would see who it was, and if it wasn't someone she recognized, they'd be heading to the hospital.
Taking a deep breath, she waited, then relaxed as the shouted words resolved into something she could hear and make sense of.
"I don't give a fuck what you say, Rude, I am fucking pissed!"
Rude's reply was unintelligible, probably because he was speaking calmly, and not screaming his damn fool head off. Reno, Elena thought, hiding her laughter. She put away her gun, and calmly waited for the two senior Turks, leaning up against the wall.
This should do for a suitable distraction for a while. For some time, I should stop thinking about pain, and about Tseng. I definitely need to stop thinking about Tseng. If I don't... She shook her head. I won't let it affect me. I won't let it affect my work.
She wasn't going to let some stupid crush resurface and ruin what she'd built for herself. Even if it is Tseng.
She turned her attention to the ever-closer indignant shrieks of Reno, and Rude's calm replies. Oh, yes. This should be interesting.
-
"Fuck you, Rude!"
"I really don't understand why you're so upset."
Reno didn't know either. Fuck him blind, he did not know. He barely remembered last night, only recalling a haze of desire so strong, it had been with him when he'd woken up the next morning. "Yeah? Yeah? Well... well fuck you!"
Rude pinched the bridge of his nose, and Reno felt oddly satisfied that Rude now felt just as frustrated as he did. "Yes, Reno, fuck me. Why, may I ask?"
Reno paused, stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "You didn't fuck me." He tried for a winning smile.
"Oh, for fuck's-"
"You're late, boys. Not that I expected anything different."
Rude bit off what he was going to say, and nodded stiffly to Elena. The blond looked amused at what she'd interrupted, probably because no one heard Rude swear. Ever. Reno figured he must really be pushing the larger man's buttons. Why can't I ever push the button marked "Turn On"?
Elena shook her head, pointing down the hall. "The boss will not be pleased that you were late."
"Well, we'll just tell him we were in the middle of a lascivious shower together when the power went out, so we just went back to bed and screwed half a dozen more times," Reno said flippantly. Rude's hand twitched, like he very badly wanted to smack his partner upside the head.
"There is no "more"," he said tersely. "In fact, there never was any."
"I figured, by the way you two were arguing," Elena said dryly, turning away, heels clicking on the floor. Reno snorted. Busybody.
"Why aren't you guarding the boss?" He asked slyly, hoping to get something incriminating.
"Patrol," Elena said tartly. "Tseng is in with Rufus."
"Ohh, bet that makes you jealous..." Reno latched onto a half-formed idea, and, like always, ran with it. "Who knows which way the boss swings... Maybe he's had his eye on Tseng all along, they've known each other for years... Maybe they've had their hands all over each other, all this time, right under our very noses..."
"Shut up," Elena snapped, hands going into her pockets to resist strangling the redhead. "What my partner does with his sex life is his choice, not mine."
"Betcha wish it was your choice," Reno smirked, then ducked as Elena's temper flared and she threw a punch at his head. "Whoa, easy there, killer, can't you take a joke?"
"Fuck you, Reno," she snapped, stalking away to continue her patrol.
Reno raised an eyebrow. "Boy, everyone's in a pissy mood today, huh, partner?"
"Save yourself the trouble, Reno, and let me talk to the boss," Rude told him, moving up to the door. "I think you're still mildly drunk."
"I am so not drunk," Reno protested.
"I should hope not."
Rude snapped instantly to attention. Reno shook his head a bit, rolling his eyes. "Hello, boss."
Rufus had opened the door to his office before Rude had the chance to. He looked calmly at his two errant Turks, Tseng standing behind him, one eyebrow raised. "Did you... have a long night?"
"No," Rude said instantly.
"Not long enough," Reno muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets. Rude shot him a dark look, hidden by his glasses.
"Well, fortunately, Tseng and Elena are here." Rufus gestured slightly, causing Rude to twitch.
Reno noticed the way his partner was standing, too stiff, too at attention. He knew as well as Rude did that his partner never took insults to his abilities lightly. "Uh, but we're here now, too, boss. We sure are... Yep, not going anywhere!"
Rufus looked at Reno as if he'd lost what we left of his mind. "Good, I would hope not."
Rude rubbed his forehead. Reno could practically hear his voice in his head. "Shut up, Reno, you're not making anything any better." "I apologize for being late, sir." He finally said, very stiffly. "I tried to wake up my partner. He was... non-responsive."
"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," Rufus shook his head. "Next time I give you permission to have... what was it... 'drunken reveling'... I'm going to give you both the day off." His eyes swept between the two Turks, and his lips twitched upwards. "I think that would be best for the both of you."
Rude shifted a bit, impassive as ever. His mind, however, was nothing near calm. Is he assuming the worst? Does he believe that we screwed like rabbits? Oh, great. This isn't what I needed... "Of course, sir."
Rufus looked between them for a moment more, then turned away. "I think we're done here. I don't have anything specific for you two to do at the moment, so take over for Elena. Send her back here to rejoin Tseng."
"Yes, sir." Rude nodded, turning away.
"Sure thing, boss." Reno turned with his partner, glancing back at Rufus for a moment, before wandering out. Rude, shaking his head, followed him.
"D'you think he suspects us?" Reno half-whispered to Rude as they walked quickly away to find Elena.
"What us? There is no us!" Rude retorted, glancing at him. "There's only your insane imagination. There is no us."
"There is so an 'us', you just won't admit it!" Reno poked him in the chest. "You so know it."
"If you poke me again, I'm going to take off your hand." Rude straightened his tie. His partner didn't believe a word of it, and slid a hand along his arm, grinning.
"You wouldn't do that, now would you... partner?" Reno's voice took on that purring quality again. He then watched, head tilted, as Rude made a delightful twitching motion as he suppressed some kind of motion- a shiver, perhaps? Reno's grin only grew wider. C'mon, fishy fish, take the bait, I know you're not as straight-laced as you want me to believe... "You wouldn't do that to poor little old me..."
"You know I would. And I'd probably enjoy it," Rude retorted, his own voice low, almost a growl. The mere sound of it made Reno want to squirm. Hot damn, his partner had the sexiest voice on record. He tried, oh, he tried to have that same quality, that same timbre as Rude did, but the only thing he could manage was a soft purr. Rude rumbled, and that was hot.
He could run his own phone sex line. He'd make thousands, if not millions... Mmmm. Phone sex with Rude.
He was about to pose that possibility to the man in question, when he realized that Rude... wasn't there. "What the hell? Hey!" He hurried to catch up to his partner. "Where're you going?"
"To find Elena, as the boss instructed us," Rude said calmly, heading towards where they'd last seen Elena. While it was unlikely she'd still be hanging around there, they'd be able to see where she went.
"Oh, yeah. We're on duty." Reno sighed and raked a hand through his hair. Getting Rude to do anything on duty was impossible. Getting him to do anything off duty was proving to be more difficult than it should be.
I'm Reno, man, doesn't he realize that? Everyone wants a piece of this!
"Hey, partner, is there a reason you're gesturing crudely to your crotch?"
Oops. Reno coughed and glanced sideways at Rude. "Oh, yeah, it was... practice."
"For what?" Rude glanced at him, a single eyebrow raised.
"Uh, practice for taunting the enemy?" Reno strove to look innocent- his first mistake. He never looked innocent.
"Uh-huh." Rude shook his head. "Why you need to practice that is beyond me. But then again, you're usually beyond me."
"Hey, I could be all yours, and you know it..." Reno gave him a grin. It was met with a cold glare.
"Don't start that again." He turned his attention back to finding Elena.
Reno sighed; apparently, Rude wasn't in the mood to be teased. He supposed outright seduction was off the list as well. Man. I have got to figure out how to get him into bed...
Well, if they were patrolling, he would have plenty of time to think about it, now wouldn't he? Plenty of time to formulate a plan.
He was so busy rubbing his hands together and looking devious, that he didn't even notice Rude and Elena exchanging a few words about his questionable sanity, and even more questionable morals, and Elena's departure down the hall. This will be the best patrol ever. I'll think of something so brilliant, so flawless, that Rude will have no choice but to bend to my wiles!
"Victory shall be mine!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger into the air.
Rude calmly ignored his partner, who was now beginning to laugh as maniacally as possible. "It's that time of day," he told a very frightened-looking and confused passing secretary. "His blood sugar drops. He needs a cookie and he'll be fine again. Come on, boy." He spoke as if to a dog, dragging the still-cackling Reno out.
The secretary shook her head. "Salary and benefits. Salary and benefits... benefits... dental insurance." She muttered as she hurried away from the two Turks.